t 


THE  OLIVE  BRANCH 


OR, 


I  t 


^^^^ 


A.  DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCII,  WINCHESTER,  VA., 

BEFORE  THE 


YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION, 


ON 


SABBATH  EVENING,  FEB.  3d,  1861. 


BY 


REV.  B.   W.  imOOKE, 


WIX CHESTER,   VA.  V  ^ 

PRINTED  AT  THE  REPUBLICAN  OFFICE,  ^on^^ 


1361. 


THE  OLIYE  BRANCH: 

OR, 


DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CIIURCU,  WINCHESTER,  YA., 

BEFORE  THE 

YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION, 

ON 

SABBATH  EVENINa,  FEB.  3cl,  1861. 

BY 

REV.   B.    W.  BROOKE, 


PRINTED  AT 


WIXCHESTER,  YA. 

THE  REPUBLICAN 
1861. 


OFFICE . 


THE  FLOWERS  COLLECTION 

F^pMet  tlolIoSiOfi 
Duke  Divinity  School 


COREESPONDEISrCE. 


Winchester,  Ya.,  February  5th,  1861. 
Rev.  B.  F.  Brooke,  Pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church: 
Dear  Sir  : 

The  undersigned  believe  that  your  eloquent  and  patriotic  Sermon,  deliv- 
ered before  the  "Young  Men's  Christian  Association,''  on  Sabbath  evening- 
last,  was  so  admirably  adapted  to  the  times^  that  we  earnestly  request  you  to 
furnish  a  copy  for  publication. 


Yery  respectfully,  yours, 


Wm.  B.  Baker, 

J.  Wm.  AYalls, 

CAB.  Cotfroth, 

Jno.  C.  Lupton, 

Wm.  1.  Rea, 

Jno.  B.  T.  Reed, 

W.  McP.  Fuller, 

Geo.  E.  Senseney, 

C.  W.  Price, 

Henry  D.  Beall, 

A.  Seal, 

Samuel  Hardy, 

H.  S.  Baker, 

Thomas  H.  Kern, 

C.  Lewis  Brent, 

John  R.  Cooper, 

John  Dickinson, 

Richard  Sidwell, 

Wm.  Henry  Harrison, 

F.  S.  Bo  wen, 

Wm.  Andrews, 

H.  Clay  Krebs, 

John  Parker, 

Nathan  A.  Brent, 

S.  R.  Atwell, 

John  H.  Andrews, 

Y.  B.  Sydnor, 

G.  W.  Diflfenderfer 

F.  A.  Grove, 

J.  R,  Bo  wen. 

Jno.  F.  Wall, 

L,  Barley, 

W.  S.  Miller, 

R.  I.  W.  Polk. 

Winchester,  Ya.,  Feb.  8,  1861. 

Messrs.  Baker,  Coffroth,  Rea,  Fuller, 

and  others  : 

Gentlemen :       ■  ■ 

I  have  the  honor  of  receiving  from  you  a  communication,  requesting 
for  publication  a  copy  of  the  Sermon  delivered  before  the  "Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,"  on  Sabbath  evening  last.  Thankiuu-  you  for  the  com- 
pliment, and  God  for  the  favor  in  which  the  doctrines  of  Christian  Conserva- 
tism are  held  in  this  community,  and  in  consideration  of  the  fact,  that  men  of 
all  churches  and  professions  unite  in  this  earnest  request,  I  willingly  commit 
the  discourse  into  your  hands,  to  do  with  it  as  you  see  proper. 

With  great  respect,  &;c. 

B.  F.  BROOKE. 


/ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/olivebranchorconOObroo 


SEUM  o  isr. 


"How  beautiful  upon  the  niouutains  are  the  feet  of  Him  that  publisheth 
peace." — Isaiah  52,  7. 

If  I  should  depart  a  little  from  usage  this  evening,  you  will 
excuse  me  I  am  sure.  Instead  of  addressing  young  men  distinctively 
ns  such,  as  is  the  custom  on  these  quarterly  occasions,  I  propose 
to  discuss  a  subject  in  which  young  men  ought  to  be  interested,  and 
which  might  be  turned  to  good  account  by  this  whole  community. 

The  Conservative  Element  of  Christianity,  as  a  Principle  of 
Peace  in  the  world,  is  my  subject.  Christ  is  the  Prince  of  Peace; 
he  26' our  peace;  his  religion  is  *'on  earth  peace,  and  good  will 
toward  men ;"  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  pure,  then 
peaceable. 

I.  Christianity  proposes  to  effect  a  reconciliation  first  between 
God  and  man,  then  harmony  between  the  discordant  elements  of 
the  individual  soul,  then  peace  between  man  and  his  fellow  man. 
And  what  a  beautiful  thing  it  is  that  our  world  has  been  brought 
into  relations  of  amity  and  peace  with  Heaven.  By  what  principle? 
By  a  great  price,  and  at  a  great  sacrifice!  "When  we  were  enemies 
we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  jSon.^'  This  little 
world  of  ours  did  lift  the  flag  of  rebellion  against  the  Omnipotent ; 
did  renounce  the  authority,  and  defy  the  vengeance  of  Heaven  ;  did 
j  swing  loose  amidst  the  crowded  universe  of  planets,  the  singular, 
daring  thing  sin  was  making  of  it,  contending  with  God,  entering 
into  the  moral  fight  of  spirit  with  spirit,  where  the  issues  and 
interests  of  an  endless  existence  were  at  stake.  Aye,  it  was  tramp- 
ling on  the  constitution  of  the  universe,  severing  the  last  bond  of 


6 


union  between  it  and  tlie  supreme  government  of  Heaven,  flaunt- 
ing the  banner  of  disunion  in  the  very  face  of  Jehovah !  and  Hell 
thought  it  brave  and  gallant ;  and  the  carnal  mind  was  enmity 
against  God,  was  not  subject  to  his  law,  neither  indeed  could  be. 
What  then?  Coercion?  No!  "I  will  send  the  olive  branch  of 
peace,"  said  God;  "I  will  give  my  Son  as  a  sacrifice  and  a 
peace  offering,  who,  with  his  crucified  hands,  shall  lift  the  world  to 
the  arms  of  my  affection  and  the  embrace  of  my  love."  It  was 
done !  and  now  those  Heavens  are  calm  again  as  when  they  poured 
their  serene  effulgence  on  Eden ;  peace  is  restored,  inter-commu- 
nication opened  up  by  an  eternal  amnesty  ;  and  now  Jacob's  ladder 
touches  the  earth,  and  touches  the  distant  Heavens,  and  the  angels, 
those  ministering  spirits  sent  for^h  to  minister  to  the  heirs  of  salva- 
tion, are  bearing  beautiful  dispatches  to  us  here  ;  and  the  very  first 
I  message  they  brought  was  "glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  Peace  on 
Earth  and  good  luill  toivard  men.''''  And  what  did  it  cost?  5^he 
wealth  of  a  universe  was  too  poor.  It  cost  Jehovah  four  thousand 
years  of  thought  and  preparation ;  it  cost  the  richest  gift  in  the 
treasury  of  Heaven;  it  cost  the  precious  Son  of  God,  the  unima- 
gined  sorrows  of  Calvary,  the  blood  of  Incarnate  Deity;  and  it  was 
not  withheld!  Christ  came  down  with  the  Olive  Branch,  bathed 
it  in  his  own  blood,  and  holding  it  out  froDi  the  top  of  the  cross,  and  . 
amidst  the  agonies  of  the  Crucifixion,  he  cried — "God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  Begotten  Son;  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  0,  when  will 
men  learn  to  follow  the  example  of  a  God,  who  met  man  more  than 
half  way  in  adjusting  the  difficulties  between  Heaven  and  earth? 

Christianity  proposes  to  impart  to  the  individual  soul  of  man  a 
personal  and  indwelling  peace,  as  the  law  of  its  order,  and  the  har- 
mony of  its  existence.  The  soul  is  restored  to  peace,  not  only 
with  its  God,  but  with  itself.  The  discordant  elements  loithin  are 
all  harmonized  by  this  heavenly  principle  which  rules  in  the  heart. 
Peace  at  home,  my  brother.  Religion  puts  out  the  fires  of  that 
internal  war,  that  faction  in  the  soul,  that  insurrection  of  the  pas- 
sions against  thy  reason  and  conscience : 

''It  lays  the  rough  paths  of  peevish  nature  even, 
And  opens  in  the  breast  a  little  heaven." 


7 


It  takes  the  sting  out  of  the  laio,  and  "there  is  now  no  condem- 
nation to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus ;"  it  takes  the  sting  out  of 
sin: 

''The  law  gives  sin  its  damning  poAver — 
But  Christ  my  ransom  died  !" 

It  takes  the  sting  out  of  sorrow.  One  leaf  from  the  Tree  of 
Life,  my  brother,  will  sweeten  the  bitterest  cup  thou  hast  to  drink 
as  Moses  sweetened  the  waters  of  Marah  with  the  branch  of  the 
Lord's  appointment.  It  takes  the  sting  out  of  death  too:  "The 
sting  of  death  is  sin,  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law;  but  thanks 
be  to  God  which  giveth  us  the  victory."  The  monster  may  brandish 
his  sting  but  faith  blunts  and  breaks  it.  Now  "mark  the  perfect 
man"  when  and  where  you  will,  peace  is  the  substratum  of  his 
being,  the  under-current  of  his  existence  ;  and  "behold  the  up- 
right, for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace."  The  very  '  'loorlc  of  right- 
eousness is  peace,  and  the  e-ffect  of  righteousness  is  quietness  and 
assurance  forever."  Just  here  let  me  correct  a  mistake.  Many 
Christians  erect  a  false  standard  in  respect  to  the  question  of  reli- 
gious  happiness,  as  if  it  consisted  in  rapture  oy  joy ;  whereas  the 
true  idea  of  happiness  is,  that  it  consists  of  intrity  and  peace. 
Joy  is  the  occasional  and  contingent  part  of  religion,  but  our  peace 
is  to  "flow  as  a  river,"  If  the  river  overflow  its  banks,  tltat  is  our 
joy ;  but  it  is  the  even,  constant  current  that  makes  the  river. 
While  in  other  respects  religious  enjoyment  must  be  subject  to 
change  and  vacillation,  this  is  fixed  and  permanent.  Satan  may 
rob  us  of  our  joy  at  times ;  the  battle-strife  of  life  may  damp  our 
raptures,  but  cannot  destroy  our  peace,  because  one  is  a  iorincij)le, 
the  other  a  contingent  experience  of  religion.  Love  and  Peace  are 
twin  sisters,  born' together  in  the  soul.  Now  "who  shall  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  Christ?  Neither  life,  nor  death,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities^  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come, 
nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  otlier  creature  shall  be  able  to  sep- 
arate us  from  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  Why? 
.Because  love  is  Si principle  of  religion  as  is  peace,  not  occasioned  or 
contingent  as  is  joy ;  therefore  nothing  can  separate  the  loving 
heart  or  the  peaceful  heart  of  a  good  man  from  that  which  is  the 
very  element  of  Christianity  in  him;  for  ceasing  to  Jove  he  ceases 


8 

to  be  a  Christian  ;  but  he  may  cease  to  be  rapturous  and  still  be  a 
child  of  God. 

II.  Having  shown  that  Christianity  is  the  principle  of  harmony 
between  man  and  God,  and  is  the  great  regulator  of  the  inner  life 
of  the  soul,  I  come  now  to  show  that  it  is  the  only  conservative 
element  in  the  world,  the  only  peace-measure  and  peace-maker 
amidst  the  contending  and  conflicting  interests  of  humanity;  that 
the  world  is  to  look  here  for  the  adjustment  of  its  disorganized 
aff"airs,  here  in  the  conservatism  of  religion.  It  will  be  necessary 
to  define  the  term  conservatism,  since  in  this  fast  age  the  word  can 
scarcely  be  pronounced  without  exciting  prejudice  or  suspicion.  If 
you  talk  to  a  man  of  science,  or  a  mechanical  genius,  a  modern  dis- 
coverer, any  speculatist  whatever,  who  forms  all  his  ideas  on  the 
models  supplied  by  the  latest  inventions ;  or  if  you  mention  it  to  a 
man  who  goes  to  California  this  year  a  gold  digger  and  comes  back 
the  next  a  Congressman,  he  will  say  you  are  "behind  the  times  and 
an  evident  old  fogy."  There  never  was  an  age  in  which  the  name 
was  more  abused  and  the  thing  so  much  needed  as  the  present. 
The  Conservatism  of  Christianity  is  not  opposed  to  the  true  idea  of 
human  progress.  It  is  peace  but  not  quiescence.  It  is  no  croaker  over 
the  present  disposition  to  lay  aside  old  forms  and  antiquated  ideas 
when  new  ones  are  found  to  be  better;  no  melancholy  prophet  record- 
ing the  gloomy  history  of  future  things  which  may  never  take  place. 
It  holds  no  sympathy  with  that  notion  of  some,  that  society  should 
find  all  its  beau  ideals  of  science  and  government,  and  art,  and  man- 
ners, and  dress  in  the  models  supplied  by  Noah's  Ark ;  and  that 
because  our  grandfathers  lived  in  a  wooden  country  and  in  log 
cabins,  and  our  grandmothers  spun  their  own  linsey-woolsey,  there- 
fore we  should  not  patronize  architects,  rail  roads  and  manufactur- 
ing establishments.  Nor  is  the  Conservatism  of  Christianity  a  mere 
calculating  utilitarianism.  What  does  it  pro?;e.^  asked  a  man  once 
on  hearing  the  Iliad  and  Paradise  Lost  mentioned ;  another  said 
the  only  poetry  he  knew  good  for  anything  was — 

"Thirty  days  has  September, 
April,  June  and  November,  &c.'' 

For  this  was  of  some  practical  utility  in  telling  us  the  number  of 


9 

days  in  each  month.  This  is  the  utilitarianism  which  would  burn 
up  the  world's  grand  classics. 

"From  Homer  the  great  tlumderer 
And  the  voice  of  trnmpet-tones  of  harmony 
That  sliake  the  shores  of  England," 

to  the  soft  lute-like  notes  of  our  American  Saphos  in  their  wood- 
lands wild ;  which  says  nothing  shall  be  studied  but  what  can  be 
"turned  over"  and  turned  into  "material  aid"  and  practical  results, 
and  solved  by  the  sublime  mathematics  of  ''hread  and  Imttery 

Nor  does  Christianity  countenance  that  utilitarian  spirit  which 
would  prostrate  in  the  dust  all  our  monuments  of  genius  which  tell 
us  the  Fine  Arts  are  yet  alive.  Vandalism  does  this  but  Chris- 
tianity never.  While  one  strides  the  classic  States  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  and  with  ruthless  hand  and  the  tread  of  barbarism  dashes 
down  and  tramples  the  world-renowned  monuments  of  art  and 
science,  which  stand  not  only  to  breathe  the  memory  of  departed 
ages,  but  to  develop  the  god-like  ideas  and  creative  powers  of  the 
human  mind,  the  other  walks  through  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem, 
saying  "Master,  behold  what  manner  of  stones  and  buildings  arc 
here  !"  See  Christianity,  a  lone  missionary  in  the  streets  of  Athens  ; 
she  looks  with  interest  on  glittering  temples  and  altars,  gorgeous 
columns  and  splendid  porticos,  maguificent  paintings,  statues  and 
bronze  figures  of  the  illustrious  dead,  whose  eloquence  and  poetry 
had  kindled  the  soul  of  a  Paul  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel.  What  does 
she  say  as  she  walks  through  this  colossal  statue-gallery  'I  I  am  come 
to  destroy? — no,  but  to  fulfill.  The  art  that  makes  this  marble  to 
speak,  and  that  canvas  to  breathe  the  pictured  ideals  of  beauty  which 
first  glowed  in  the  soul  of  genius,  shall  live  to  embody  in  fair  forms 
the  higher  and  diviner  ideas  of  the  scenes  of  my  conflict  and  of  my 
triumph.  Christianity  makes  no  war  on  the  advancement  of  society 
in  that  which  cultivates  the  taste,  and  impresses  the  heart  by  the 
penciiings  of  beauty.  If  the  vulgar  idea  of  utility  were  GoiVs 
idea,  why  has  he  made  the  world  thus?  AVliy  adorn  it  witli  //oz/  vr-v  / 
Why  so  many  stuvs  in  the  firmament  ?  AVliy  tlie  xcrcn-rolui  i  d  i-ain- 
5o?o  in  the  cloud  ?  Why  such  endlc-s  variety  in  the  plumage  of 
beautiful  birds,  in  the  undulations  of  the  earth's  surface,  in  stream, 


and  plant,  and  precious  stones  ?  Why  has  the  Creator  lavished  upon 
all  nature  such  ornament  and  brilliancy"?  Just  in  vain  if  he  now 
introduces  a  Christianity  to  wither  and  destroy  in  the  human  soul 
the  very  ideals  of  beauty  of  which  his  own  hand  and  works  supply 
the  original  suggestions. 

Nor  because  Christianity  is  conservative  does  it  lose  its  active 
and  aggressive  character.  It  is  peace  but  not  stagnation.  It  is 
not  a  pool  with  no  inlet  nor  outlet,  but  a  flowing  stream  of  living 
waters  making  everything  about  it  to  live.  Its  elements  are  all 
vital.  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world"  is  its  high  commission  ;  an  angel 
flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven  its  sublime  emblem  ;  and  it  is  repre- 
sented as  turning  the  world  upside  down,  revolutionizing  society, 
renovating  and  redeeming  the  race.  It  is  no  dormant  peace, 
lazily  asleep  amidst  the  world's  great  elements  of  motion,  but  a 
power  that  works,  an  advancing  energy  marshaling  its  ten  thousand 
agencies  to  the  redemption  of  the  worlds  and  is  in  this  sense  "ter- 
rible as  an  army  with  banners."  The  meaning  which  is  to  be 
attached  to  the  term  Conservative  Christianity  is  that  it  is  a  balancing 
and  controlling  principle,  and  moderates  human  action,  so  as  to 
keep  down  violence  on  one  hand  and  prevent  inactivity  on  the 
other.  It  is  an  enemy  alike  to  extravagance  and  formalism,  and 
holds  the  balance  of  power  between  the  extremes  of  fanaticism  and 
indiff"erentism  in  all  popular  questions.  It  is  oil  to  the  troubled 
waters,  helm  to  the  vessel,  the  salt  of  the  earth. 

But  wherein  does  Conservatism  of  Christianity  consist  ?  I  answer, 
in  the  very  nature  of  it  as  a  religion  of  peace  in  its  relations  to  the 
world.  It  has  been  charged  with  bloodshed,  and  revolution,  and 
i  made  responsible  for  all  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisition  itself.  But 
we  say  no.  If  such  violence  is  done  in  connection  with  Ecclesias- 
tical organizations,  it  grows  out  of  the  abuse,  rather  the  want 
of  religion,  and  not  religion  itself.  Bead  the  definition  of  religion 
given  in  the  scriptures:  "Love  Avorketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor, 
therefore  love  is  the- fulfilling  of  the  law  ;  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy- 
self; love  your  enemies,  pray  for  them  that  persecute  and  despite- 
fully  use  you ;  as  ye  would  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them."  Bead  this,  and  then  say  that  Christianity  is  seditious,  or  is 
the  cause  of  any  rupture  of  the  peace  of  society.    No,  my  brother, 


11 


it  cannot  be  the  cause  of  any  disorder,  but  must  be  the  cure  of  all 
disorders  and  contentions  in  the  world,  when  its  divine  principles  | 
shall  be  accepted  and  universally  practised.  ; 
I        The  conservative  element  of  Christianity  is  found  in  the  jyeaceful 
\     modes  of  its  wftuence.    It  is  a  fact  that  the  great  conserving 
principles  in  the  physical  creation  are  for  the  most  part,  secret, 
hidden,  and  quiet  in  their  action  .     How  quietly  and  unobtrusively  i 
do  those  secret  chemical  agencies  work  which  are  found  every 
where  on  the  surface  of  the  globe;  but  they  are  there,  producing  ; 
all  the  beautiful  variety  of  natural  scenery  around  us.     Now  | 
j     Christianity  is  our  moral  chemistry  at  work  deep  down  amidst  the  \ 
roots  and  germs  of  things  in  the  spiritual  creation,  moulding  and 
fashioning  the  surface  of  that  new  earth  wherein  shall  dwell  righte- 
ousness.   Look  again  at  the  sea :  its  conserving  power  is  not  found 
in  its  rolling  billows,  its  heaving  tides,  its  eternal  roar  where  "deep, 
answereth  to  deep  at  the  noise  of  God's  water  spouts,"  but  in  its 
silent,  all-perrading  saline  agencies.    Now  ye  are  the  salt  of  the  ; 
I     earth;  salt  to  preserve  the  very  existence  of  society,  to  keep  the  | 
I     elements  of  social  and  moral  organizations  from  rottenness  and  | 
I     decay;  salt  in  its  peaceful,  often  voiceless,  always  unobtrusive,  moral  | 
chemistry,  to  work  out  the  spiritual  regeneration  of  the  world.  \ 
There  is  nothing  in  Christianity  violent  or  coercive.    The  ele-  | 
ments  of  its  power  are  not  likened  to  the  desolating  storm,  but  to  j 
the  influences  of  mild  and  gentle  airs,  refreshing  showers,  and  \ 
distilling  dews,  by  which  a  whole  hemisphere  is  carpeted  with  ! 
verdure^  furnishing  food  for  man  and  beast.    It  effects  its  object  [ 
without  upheaving  the  foundations  of  society;  it  allays  the  evils  | 
of  the  world  without  rupturing  the  bands  of  brotherhood ;  it  carries 
'     its  banner  victorious  'round  the  globe  without  "fire,  or  sinoke,  or 
;     blood-red  vapor,"  because  it  is  the  banner  of  a  crucified  Christ,, 
scattering  in  its  way  life,  light,  peace  on  earth  and  good  will 
toward  men.    It  is  the  only  union  of  peace  and  power.    It  com-  j 
bines  in  itself  the  gentleness  of  the  lamb  and  the  majesty  of  the  1 
lion,  and  becomes  an  omnipotent  charity,  an  irresistible  meekness.  | 
This  feature  in  the  gospel  is  wisely  adapted  to  the  constitution  of 
the  human  mind.    Man  is  a  creature  marvelously  made  for  per- 
suasive influences,  to  be  acted  on  by  moral  motives,  and  moved 


by  appeals  to  tbc  tender  feelings  of  his  nature.  If  you  want  liim 
to  submit  you  must  gain  bis  will  tbrough  bis  affections.  Tbe 
heathen  poet  understood  this  feature  in  human  nature,  when  he 
represented  that  nature  in  tbe  person  of  Prometheus,  bound  to  his 
Ocean  rock,  refusing  to  submit  to  the  tyranny  of  force,  though 
vultures  were  preying  on  his  unwasted  liver  for  ages.  Nor  man 
nor  Grod  subdues  the  human  soul  except  by  the  power  of  love.  If 
you  wish  liim  to  capitulate  you  must  "wheel  off  your  artillery," 
•'reverse  your  fire-arms,"  take  the  Olive  Branch,  appeal  to  the 
nobler  feelings  of  his  nature,  address  his  conscience,  his  self- 
respect.  The  gospel  compromises  neither  its  dignity,  nor  its 
fiercest  denunciation  of  sin  and  wickedness,  nor  does  it  conceal 
from  view  the  terrible  nature  of  those  judgments  to  which  sin 
dooms  the  finally  impenitent;  but  while  it  foretells  the  doom,  like 
its  weeping  author,  it  drops  a  tear  over  the  hapless  and  hopeless  | 
doomed. 

Having  shown  wherein  the  Conservatism  of  Christianity  consists, 
I  now  show  the  practical  effects  of  it  on  human  society.    Take  it  | 
away  and  you  sever  the  golden  chain  that  binds  man  to  man,  and  ! 
society  goes  to  pieces  !  It  would  be  like  sealing  up  the  fountains  of  | 
gravitation  and  cutting  off  the  sources  of  attraction  in  the  material  | 
universe,  and  every  orb  shall  dash  off  in  lawless  liberty  to  work 
its  own  ruin  and  destruction.    The  organic  structure  of  society  is  j 
made  up  of  extremes,  natural,  mental  and  physical;  extremes  of  j 
condition  and  circumstance,  extremes  of  constitution  and  disposi- 
tion, of  capacity,  taste,  temperament,  and  knowledge;  and  the 
wonder  is  that  such  differences  and  inequalities  can  co-exist  at  all  I 
without  rupturing  the  bonds  of  union.    But  christian  conserv-  \ 
atism  has  made  my  wonder  to  Cease.    Where  it  exists  in  all  its  force  ! 
and  influence  it  becomes  a  great  balance-wheel  in  the  machinery  I 
of  social  organizations,  and  men  of  all  possible  talents  and  tastes, 
business  and  interests,  creeds  and  customs,  conditions  and  circum- 
stances, dwell  together  in  one  happy  fraternity,  because  religion 
is  a  conserving  power,  harmonizing  the  extremes  of  human  life. 
0  Religion,  thou  child  of  the  skies,  if  thou  wouldst  dwell  with  us 
what  a  world  would  this  be  of  ours! 


1  '5 

III.  The  Conservatism  of  Christianity  is  the  only  hope  of  our 
nation  in  the  adjustment  of  its  political  interests.  I  speak  of  my 
bleeding  country,  not  as  a  j^oliticinn;  for  I  should  despise  myself, 
and  deserve  your  consummate  contempt,  were  I  to  prostitute  my 
sacred  office  to  the  menial  demagogisni  of  political  partizanship. 
I  do  speak  as  an  observer  of  passing  events,  as  a  student  of  history, 
and  as  a  man  and  minister  of  peace.  The  prayers  you  offered  in 
your  solemn  assemblies  on  the  fourth  of  January  authorize  me  to 
do  what  I  can  in  holding  out  the  Olive  Branch  to  you,  and  all 
concerned.  My  brethren,  the  floods  are  abroad,  and  the  anxious 
eye  of  patriotism  looks  out  upon  the  disturbed  waters  to  see  if  the 
clove  of  peace  bears  toward  the  Ark  of  the  Union  any  symbol  of 
the  abatement  of  strife,  or  hope  of  adjustment.  The  reason  I  am 
for  the  Union  grows  out  of  the  moral  sublimity  and  imposing 
position  of  America  in  her  religious  mission  and  destiny — the  influ- 
ence of  this  great  nation  on  the  ultimate  civilization  and  redemp- 
tion of  the  world.  When  I  saw  this  Union  rising  up  in  it  grandeur 
and  strength,  with  its  banner  of  Freedom  and  the  Constitution 
waving  in  bloodless  pride  and  beauty  over  a  happy  and  united 
people  ;  when  I  remembered  that  from  the  baldrick  of  our  resplen- 
dent firmament  was  poured  the  light  of  more  than  thirty  stars  on 
as  many  Tribes,  and  every  n.ian 

''Had, bis  portion  of  ca  -li  silver  sT;ir 

Sent  to  his  eye  most  freely  :  ami  tlie  liulu 
(Jf  tliat  (l;iy  shone  on  his  chart  as  clear 

As  oil  til"  liokleii  miss.il  of  a  Klwj;  :" 

When  I  saw  how  the  province  of  God  had  kept  back  the  dis- 
covery of  this  land  until  it  could  come  into  the  possession  of  a  great 
christian  nation,  and  then  saw  the  mysterious  combination  and 
consolidation  of  many  dissimilar  races  and  antagonistic  elements 
from  abroad  into  one  liomogeneous  nationality  at  home.  I  really 
felt  it  was  this  that  was  making  up  the  beautiful  charisma  of  our 
Republic,  and  casting  the  horoscope  of  the  world's  destiny;  tliat 
this  was  the  dawn  of  a  day  whose  Itrightness  was  to  usher  in  the 
Millennium  of  the  Church,  tlie  Sa1)1)ath  of  uni^'ersal  peace,  the 
jubilee  of  the  nations  I  O,  I  tliought  tliat  America,  from  a  cosmo- 
political  christian  point  of  view,  was  the  grandest  of  all  objects,  the 


I  ~  

14 

sublimesfc  of  all  ideas  connected  with  the  present  world.  As  I 
read  in  Eastern  fable  that  the  world  was  a  harp,  and  that  at  great 
intervals,  an  angel  flying  through  the  heavens  struck  that  harp, 
and  its  vibrations  were  those  mighty  issues  of  good  which  marked 
the  history  of  the  race — I  thought  that  angel,  mysterious  and 
invisible,  yet  present  and  potent,  was  hovering  over  this  Union, 
preparing  to  strike  that  harp  again,  and  the  universe  should  echo 
the  music  of  its  quivering  strings;  that  despotism,  seizing  the 
pillars  of  her  own  doomed  Temple  with  a  firmer  grasp  it  might  be, 
would  only  in  that  last  mighty  death  struggle  bring  it  down  in 
ruins  upon  herself,  and  then  that  angel  would  strike  the  religious 
and  civil  emancipation  of  the  nations!  Yes,  I  believed  that  Ameri- 
can, protestant  Christianity  was  the  lever  by  which  Providence 
was  to  lift  the  world  to  its  predicted  spiritual  grandeur.  I  had  no 
other  idea  but  that  this  country  was  discovered  for  Christ,  and  this 
Union  built  for  the  spread  of  his  kingdom.  Look  at  the  amplitude 
of  our  geographical  theatre :  one  sixth  less  only  than  the  area 
co.vered  by  the  sixty  States,  Republics  and  Empires  of  all  Europe, 
of  equal  extent  with  the  old  Roman  Empire  when  her  Eagles 
spread  their  wings  in  undisputed  sovereignty  in  all  skies  of  the 
hemisphere.  It  was  not  the  abstract  science  of  government  only, 
i  not  merely  the  justness  and  grandeur  of  our  constitution  as  a 
theory  of  national  jurisprudence,  that  was  pointing  to  our  manifest 
' '  destiny.  Not  this  alone — but  it  was  the  singular  and  significant  fact 
that  cdl  nations  were  ' here  differing  in  origin  and  language,  it  is 
true,  yet  bound  together  in  one  grand  nationality ,  called  American. 
We  had  no  Irish  American,  no  Apglo  American,  no  German 
American,  but  Americans  all!  Americans  all!  sworn  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America.  On  the  day  of 
1  Pentecost  there  were  dwelling  at  Jerusalem  devout  men  out  of 
I  every  nation  under  heaven;  and  they  were  here  awaiting  the 
1  Pentecost  of  the  latter-day  glory,  the  baptism  of  the  nations  with 
I  the  light  and  love  of  the  gospel  of  truth,  as  they  were  represented 
in  these  sons  of  the  stranger  sent  here  for  this  very  purpose,  that 
I  they -might  bear  back  to  their  Father-land  the  redeeming  power  of 
Christianity.  It  was  this  mission  of  America  in  her  religious 
destiny,  in  carrying  forward  the  three  great  moving  powers  of  the  j 


15 


world — freedom,  civilization,  and  Christianity — by  the  moral  force 
which  Union  was  to  give  to  this  work  of  sending  on  to  distant 
lands  and  future  days  the  light  of  liberty,  faith  and  example  that 
was  so  engaging  the  hopes  of  Christendom,  and  making  this  Union 
so  pre-eminently  the  gift  of  God.  Yes,  America^  thou  wast 
reserved  for  this  resplendent  mission — to  accomplish  by  thy  final 
influence  the  will  and  purpose  of  Heaven  in  bringing  in  an  ever- 
lasting righteousness.  God  and  Providence  were  on  thy  side ;  all 
powers  were  working  for  thee — 

"Air,  earth  aud  skies. 
There  was  not  a  breathing  of  the  common  -wind, 
That  did  forget  thee.    Thou  hadst  great  allies  ! 
Thy  friends  were  exultations  !  agonies  ! 
And  love  !  and  man's  unconquerable  mind  ! 
Thine  were  the  revolutions  of  States  and  Empires, 
Long  ages  past,  the  present  and  the  future, 
All  agencies — not  one  was  exempt. 
And  by  thy  faith  thou  saidst — 
From  heaven  the-  clouds  shall  roll ; 
The  earth  no.  longer  be  the  vale  of  tears. 
Speed  on  your  swiftest  wheels  ye  golden  spheres 
To  bring,  the  splendors  of  that  morning  nigh  ! 
Already  the  forgiven,  desert  bears  the  rose. 
The  Pagan  lifts  the  adoring  eye. 
The  exiled  Hebrew  sees  the  clay, break  in  the  skies." 

Yes,  the  Angel  icas  about  to  strike  that  harp;  but  now  what  do 
we  see '?  Another  angel  spreads  his  wings  on  the  blast,  bearing  in 
his  hand  a  roll  written  within  and  without  with  lamentation,  and 
mourning,  and  wo!  and  the  voice  says — "sigh,  therefore,  thou  son 
of  man,  with  the  breaking  of  thy  loins;  and  with  bitterness  sigh 
before  their  eyes.  And  it  shall  be  when  they  say  unto  thee  where- 
fore sighestthou?  that  thou  shalt  answer,  for  the  tidings,  because 
it  cometh  !  and  every  heart  shall  melt,  and  all  hands  shall  be  feeble, 
and  every  spirit  shall  faint,  and  all  knees  shall  be  weak  as  water ; 
behold  it  cometh  !"  It  travels  with  the  winds,  it  travels  with  the 
lightning.  Your  Telegraphs  and  Rail  Roads  interlacing  and 
weaving  a  magnificent  net-work  all  over  this  land,  and  once  bind- 
ing the  whole  Union  together  as  with  chains  of  iron,  and  chains  of 
fire,  are  now  used  mainly  to  bear  to  every  part  of  it  the  tidings  of 


!  16 

wo  and  lamentation,  and  broken  fraternities^  and  ruptured  compacts, 
seceding  States  and  a  dissolving  Union !    Tidings  of  six  stars  gone  : 
I     down,  and  gone  out  in  the  galaxy^  of  our  glory;  tidings  of  legislative 
violations  of  the  Constitution  in  one  section,  and  of  uncompro- 
mising blood  hot  defiance  in  another ;  of  the  sails  of  commerce 
:     reefed,  manufacturing  establishments  stopping,  intercommunication  | 
I     arrested,  or,  as  one  has  said,  "the  only  merchandise  one  section  of  | 
I     the  country  purchases  of  another,  for  which  ready  cash  is  forth-  j 
I     coming,  consists  of  Colt's  pistols  and  Sharp's  rifles,  Bowie  knives 
and  gunpowder."    Sigh  for  the  tidings  of  the  failure  of  Repub- 
lican institutions,  the  failure  of  man's  capacity  for  self-government,  j 
the  failure  of  the  American  Union,  and  the  tearing  doT^n  the'  j 
pillars  of  the  Constitution  ;  and  when  tlieij  fall  the  crash  will  shake  | 
the  world  I    Would  this  were  all.    But  that  flying  roll  comes  nearer  , 
still,  and  turns  the  inner  side  to  view ;  and  there  we  see  more  than 
the  prostration  in  the  dust  of  a  Union  which  was  built  up  by  the 
best  patriotism  the  world  ever  saw,  and  which  was  the  hope  of  Lib- 
erty to  the  nations.    Tidings  of  Civil  war!  which  may  drench  this  j 
land  of  Washington  in  brothers'  blood  from  Atlantic  waves  to  | 
Pacific  shores!    If  fanaticism,  and  ultraism,  and  disunionism  shall  | 
bring  it  on,  the  horrors  of  the  French  Be^olution  and  the  Eeign  | 
of  Terror  shall  be  cast  forever  in  the  shade ;  nor  has  the  history  of 
the  world  ever  recorded  such  scenes  of  bloodshed  and  devastation 
as  shall  soon  come  up  before  the  terrified  gaze  of  the  American  | 
people.    Had  I  the  adequate  pencil,  whence  could  I  draw  the  j 
colors,,  or  where  find  the  canvas  to  picture  to  your  eye  the  appall-  1 
ing  scene?    Your  imagination,  heated  and  alfrighted ■  as  it  is  by  | 
"coming  events  which  cast  their  shadows  before,"  nay,  the  dis-  | 
j     turbed  .  and  ill-boding  imagination  of  a  whole  nation  supplies  not 
the  canvas  for  such  a  fearful  picture.    From  what  sources  shall  I 
draw  my  colors?    From  the  age  of  the  Catilines,  the  Syllas  and 
the  Robespierres;  from  exasperated  passion  and  raging  wrath;  i 
from  lust  and  enmity,  and  unconquerable  hate ;  from  embattled 
legions,  and  ensanguined  fields,  and  brothers'  blood,  and  burning 
I     towns  and  desolated  cities,  and  widows'  tears  and  orphans'  cries, 
I     and  ail  of  ruin,  death  and  carnage  that  can  follow  in  the  train  of 
-j     horrors  of  Civil  war !    Hell  broke  loose,  fiends  incarnate,  Pande- 


11 


monium  on  earth,  shrieks  of  the  damned,  smoke  of  the  bottomless 
pit,  are  the  only  names  by  which  such  a  scene  can  be  called  or 
described!  .A.nd  how  brought  about?  By  the  people f  By  the 
people  who  shall  be  taxed  to  support  this  war  ?  By  the  people 
who  shall  fight  these  battles  and  die  at  the  cannon's  mouth  ?  The 
peojDle  whose  wives  are  to  be  widows,  whose  children  orphans?  j 
No!  not  by  the  people.  The  great  national  heart  has  ever  been  , 
loyal  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union;  that  heart  shall  bear  the 
hurden  of  wo,  and  bankruptcy,  and  agony,  and  death,  but  not  the 
reqjonsihility .  By  whom  brought  about?  By  crafty  politicians, 
and  designing  demagogues,  and  factious  partizans,  and  hordes  of 
office  seekers,  who,  to  gratifj''  their  lust  of  power  and  lust  of  gold, 
like  so  many  insatiable  vampires,  will  suck  the  life's  blood  from  the 
Constitution  and  sap  the  foundations  of  this  glorious  Union.  "He 
that  delivered  me  to  thee  hath  the  greater  sin,"  said  the  Son  of  j 
God  to  Pilate;  and  so  this  Union,  betrayed  and  made  ready  for  the  j 
sacrifice,  to  be  victimized  on  the  altats  of  a  splendid  damnation, 
if  it  goes,  shall  turn  its  dying  glance  upon  these  ungodly  wretches 
and  say  "therefore  have  ye  the  greater  sin  ;"  and  its  expiring 
groan  shall  send  a  shudder  to  the  heart  of  a  universe,  and  the  hopes 
of  humanity  and  freedom  go  down  to  the  grave  of  ages.  Brought 
about  for  what?  For  any  sin  of  the  Union?  Where,  in  the  history 
of  eighty-four  years,  has  the  Federal  Government  passed  a  single 
act  of  oppression  or  injustice  to  any  State  in  the  Union?  For 
what  reason  then  brought  about?  For  issues  which  any  ten  honest- 
hearted,  unsophisticated  yeomanry  of  Virginia  or  Pennsylvania 
could  settle  in  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  and  yet  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  which,  Congress — that  concentrated  wisdom  and  patriotism 
of  a  Continent- -finds  neither  the  icaij  nor  the  will.  The  subject  is 
all  dark  to  them  because  they  are  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  cloud 
and  symbol  of  the  Divine  Presence.  The  obfuscations  which  pas- 
sion and  pride  have  brought  over  their  eyes  shut  out  the  light,  and 
for  passion  they  will  sacrifice  the  Union  before  they  will  compro- 
mise a  pitiable  sectional  prejudice.  On  the  other  hand,  would 
there  had  not  been  on  another  issue,  thirty  years  ago,  a  deep  laid 
scheme  to  break  up  this  government!  And  now,  making  the  pre- 
sent aspect  of  things  the  (isf(  nxlhlc  ground  of  secession,  one  of  your 


18 

States,  like  the  Red  Dragon  in  the  Apocalypse,  curling  his  tail  about 
the  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven  and  casting  them  down  to  the 
earth,  would  fix  the  fatal  coil  around  these  glorious  border  stars  in 
the  firmament  of  the  Union  and  drag  them  down  at  the  tail-end  of 
a  Confederacy,  of  which  she  hopes  to  be  the  head.  Is  it  right  that 
Virginia  and  Maryland  should  be  made  the  carnage  fields,  the 
Golgothas  of  the  modern  world  ?  Is  it  right,  and  according  to  the 
genius  of  our  government,  that  one  section  or  both  should  press 
this  immense  issue  without  the  consent  and  voice  of  the  people 
where  every  man  is  a  sovereign?  If  it  is  done,  what  mind  is  pre- 
pared to  calculate  the  consequences,  civil,  political  and  religious? 
A^Q,  religious !  With  the  wreck  of  this  Union  shall  go  down  in 
scattered  fragments  some  of  the  brightest  hopes  of  Christendom, 
and  that  speedy  redemption  of  heathendom  which  God  w^as  hasten- 
ing through  our  instrumentality  as  a  nation.  Dissolve  this  Union 
and  you  put  out  more  fires  on  the  altars  of  religion  at  home,  and 

I  prevent  the  building  of  more  altars  of  religion  abroad  than  the 
combined  agencies  of  Infidelity  have  done  in  any  century  since 
centuries  began.  Dissolve  this  Union,  and  you  throw  back  the  sun 
of  civilization  a  thousand  years  on  the  dial  of  time,  and  project 
the  night  of  superstition  on  the  Pagan  World  a  thousand  years 

i    more.    Dissolve  this  Union,  and  3'ou  retard  the  progress  of  a  world, 

j  because  you  arrest  one  of  the  mightiest  tides  of  influence  and 
moral  power  Providence  ever  set  in  motion  for  the  accomplishment 

\  of  his  designs.  Take  olf  your  badges  of  Disunion,  as  you  value 
life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  Nay,  put  on  mourning 
rather — mourning  for  your  mother.  But  if  the  Union  must  go, 
what  ought  to  be  her  funeral  obsequies  ?  Let  that  Sun  give  no 
light  that  day.  Let  the  two  oceans  which  embrace  her,  dirge  her 
doom  in  measured  moans  that  meet  in  mid-air  until  an  awe-struck 
world  shall  listen  and  weep.  Let  patriots  of  this  and  all  lands  come 
with  tears.  Let  the  spirits  of  the  mighty  dead  and  great  Wash- 
ington descend  to  close  her  eyes  and  wrap  her  in  her  winding 
sheet,  and  let  that  winding  sheet  be  made  out  of  the  white  sails  of 
her  commerce,  the  fabrics  of  her  own  industry,  and  Star  Spangled 
Banners  never  more  to 

'•'wave — 

O'er  the  land  of  the  free — the  home  of  the  brave."  / 


19 


But  there  is  one  hope  left;  one  lone  star  in  the  midnight  of  our 
hemisphere  ;  and  that  last  hope,  that  lone  star,  is  the  peaceful,  con- 
servative mediation  of  Virginia.    Her  peace  measure,  inaugurated, 
not  in  the  spirit  of  political  partizanship,  but  in  the  spirit  of  re- 
ligious and  godly  conservatism,  is  the  last  hope  of  the  struggling 
I    Union.    0,  I  see  that  conservatism  as  she  stands  on  the  deck  of 
the  Ship  of  State,  with  Crittenden  by  her  side  holding  fast  the  flag- 
staff of  the  Union ;  the  storm  rages,  the  tempest  sweeps  along  the 
deep,  and  the  yesty  waves  of  contending  factions  roll  in  upon  her 
on  every  side,  yet  there  she  stands  and  pleads  with  the  North  to 
give  up,  and  with  the  South  not  to  keep  back;  and  with  a  majesty 
surpassed  only  by  that  of  the  Son  of  God  on  deep  Galilee,  she  says 
to  these  raging  elements,  "peace,  be  still."  I  trust  in  God  the  winds  ' 
and  waves  will  obey  and  there  shall  be  a  great  calm.    And  if  it  shall 
be  so,  it  will  be  like  the  remarshaling  the  very  stars  in  their 
courses,  and  the  restoration  of  a  disturbed  gravitation  and  attrac- 
tion to  a  universe,  and  the  nations  again  shall  listen  to  more  than  I 
' 'the /a ^/ec^  music  of  the  spheres."    If  it  shall  be  so,  then  shall 
the  wounds  of  this  great  confederacy  be  healed,  and  our  love  and 
common  patriotism  be  the  stronger  by  reason  of  the  fiery  ordeal 
through  which  we  have  passed  ;  then  shall  we  as  a  christian  nation, 
reorganizing  our  forces  against  sin,  and  infidelity,  and  paganism, 
and  despotism,  and  every  forni  of  tyranny  over  the  human  mind, 
be  ready  to  enter  again  upon  our  high  historic  mission,  going  forth 
to  our  predestined  work,  the  spiritual  and  civil  redemption  of  the  j 
nations.    Then  shall  the  blessed  reign  of  i^eace  come  a  thousand  \ 
years  sooner;  then  shall  the  Temple  of  Janus  be  closed  not  only  i 
at  Rome,  but  in  every  walled  town  and  war-station  on  the  globe ;  1 
the  watch  fires  of  revolution  be  put  out  on  every  mountain  top  | 
and  the  war  cry  hushed  in  every  valley  ;  brothers'  blood  no  more  ' 
stain  the  friendly  earth,  nor  the  welkin  ring  with  the  shock  of 
■  battle,  but 

•'Peace  o'er  the  ^vorld  her  oWw  wnnd  extend 
And  white  robed  Innocence  from  hcjux'n  descend.  " 

"For  a  King  shall  reign  in  righteousness,  and  Princes  rule  in 
judgment;  the  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more:  they  shall  beat 


20 

their  swords  into  plough-shares  and  their  spears  into  pruuing 
hooks ;  and  the  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and  the  calf  and  the  young  lion  and 
the  fatling  together,  and  a  little  child  shall  lead  them.  They 
shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  Holy  Mountain,  for  the  Earth 
shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  God  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea." 
Yes,  it  shall  come,  for  God  has  promised  it;  it  shall  come,  for 
Christ  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet.  The 
shout  shall  ascend  over  Continent,  and  Seas,  and  Isle,  heard  all 
along  the  paths  of  sound  until  it  thrills  the  Gates  of  Light — now  i.s 
come  Salvation,  and  strength,  and  the  Kingdom  of  our  God  and 
the  power  of  his  Christ,  for  the  accuser  of  the  brethren  is  cast 
down,  and  they  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  It  shall 
come:  but  let  American  Protestant  Christianity  remember,  that 
she  bears  the  fearful  responsibility,  as  she  is  vested  with  the  awful 
power  of  retarding  or  hastening  it  a  thousand  years. 


